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Today I met my mom downtown in our little burg to have coffee and show her the photos of our recent "drop-off" at Smith. I brought her a Smith sweatshirt because I knew she'd enjoy advertising that her only granddaughter was at such a great school. And I was wearing mine, having come straight from the gym. As we sat at a table on the sidewalk in front of the window, a young woman tapped on the glass, indicated the "Smith" on my shirt and mouthed, "Did you go to Smith? I did!" So of course we jumped up and met in the doorway. (This is the sort of behavior with which my daughter feared I would humiliate her in Northampton!) I told her my daughter had just started at Smith and showed her a couple of the pictures. She said she'd graduated in 1990 as an English major. I said, "Oh, please tell me you have an interesting job!" She laughed and said not at the moment but she'd been a commodities trader. She seemed very high on Smith and said you could do whatever you wanted with a degree. I thanked her for picking up on my shirt, since that was the very reason I plan to wear it, just in case anybody else wants to talk about the wonders of Smith College!

I can't get over the amazing network of wonderful women who have gone there. It's really been fun find them. Like our ministers wife. Who knew? And the 87-year-old weight lifting Millicent Somebody who was featured in the Portland, Oregonian. Or just a long and fascinating life documented in an obituary and it will turn out to be a woman who went to Smith. It all makes me wish I'd gone there! My comfort is in knowing that if I had, my daughter would likely have felt compelled to go elsewhere. But I do think it's wonderful the enthusiasm they all seem to feel for their school and the warmth they show in these networking connections.